Efforts to increase interfaith dialogue by Sikh Americans

Washington: As many as 15 diverse civil rights and faith-based organizations joined by the National Sikh Campaign (NSC) at a White House event sought to reinvigorate American traditions of inclusion, freedom and interfaith cooperation.

The coalition, rooted in the belief that America’s strength comes from its diverse heritage, also launched an innovative project called, “Know Your Neighbour” calling on all Americans to share their own beliefs as well as understand and respect those of others.

“We are a nation of Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, non-religious people, and more – we live and work together and we need to have faith in each other,” said NSC Executive Director Gurwin Singh Ahuja, who designed the project.

Developed after extensive research, including NSC’s “Sikhs in the United States” report, Know Your Neighbour seeks to protect and strengthen the fabric of one of the most religiously diverse countries in the world.

“Americans know that minority religions, such as Sikhism, Islam and Hinduism, exist in the United States yet they don’t realise that they are their neighbors, friends and coworkers,” said Dr. Rajwant Singh, Senior Advisor to the National Sikh Campaign.

“If we can make that realization for those who are unaware, we are bridging a major gap towards tolerance and acceptance.”

The coalition also seeks to address the recent uptick in hateful rhetoric against religious minorities, which has led to increased discrimination, mistrust, and violence – particularly against Sikh and Muslim Americans.

“The rise in anti-Muslim sentiment has created a dangerous environment for all faiths – not just Muslims or Sikhs,” said Rana Singh Sodhi, brother of Balbir Singh Sodhi, the first Sikh man killed after 9/11.

“Truthfully, religious liberty and co-existence is at risk, and this interfaith effort to address these issues is more critical now than ever before,” he said.

According to media reports, US has shared list of terror groups operating in Pakistan with authorities in Islamabad. Wikimedia

Washington, November 2, 2017 : The White House retains a list of 20 terrorist groups that it claims are operating in Pakistan and Afghanistan and is believed to have shared this list with Islamabad, the media reported on Thursday.

However, the list was not given to Pakistani authorities by US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson when he visited Islamabad last week, diplomatic sources told Dawn news.

The White House list includes three types of militant groups: those who launch attacks into Afghanistan, those who attack targets inside Pakistan and those who are focused on Kashmir.

Top on the list is the Haqqani Network which, the US claims, has safe havens in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and uses them to launch attacks into Afghanistan.

Pakistan strongly rejects the charge, saying that there were no such safe havens inside the country.

The US also identified Lashkar-e-Taiba as one of the largest and most active terrorist organisations in South Asia.

The other militant groups in the list include Harakatul Mujahideen, Jaish-e-Mohammed, Jundullah, Lashkar-i-Jhanghvi and Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan. (IANS)